Sapiens International NV, whose origins are Israeli, likes to think of itself as a Netherlands Antilles company – well that is where the parent company is registered: the business is actually run by several Swiss-based entities connected with company founders Shaul Shani, Tsvi Misinai and Ron Zuckerman and backed by Swiss Bank Corp – but another corporate entity separates the parent from most of its operating subsidiaries; according to the Wall Street Journal, this structure enables Sapiens to benefit from a 15% to 20% effective tax rate and to get a substantial part of its research and development expenses funded by the Israeli government.